Our Vision
The vision of Arise is to cultivate a Spiritual, Missional, Authentic, Transforming community in Christ through love.
SPIRITUAL
Jesus said that “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24, ESV)
The spiritual journey requires ourselves to be “tuned-in” to the Holy Spirit. This is a lifelong process of being in God’s word, practicing meditative and contemplative prayers, and engaging in vibrant and God-centered worship.
Biblical, prayerful, worshipful, vibrant, God-centered
MISSIONAL
“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
(Matthew 25:40, ESV)
We believe faith in Jesus is as relevant today as it has ever been, but it is the job of the Christian community to reveal this relevance by incarnating God’s love. Arise seeks to do so by engaging the cultures around us in humility and respect, and to take our faith into action by serving those who are in need.
Relevant, engaging culture, respect, faith in action
AUTHENTIC
“Let what you say be ‘yes’ or ‘no’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:37, ESV)
God knows who we are better than we know ourselves. Spiritual transformation, both as individuals and as a community, is often hindered by misperceptions of ourselves. Being truthful, transparent, humble, honest, and real are core values of Arise. It is Arise’s desire to faithfully journey towards this end.
Truthful, transparent, humble, honest, real
TRANSFORMING
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
(Romans 12:2, ESV)
The Christian faith is a journey of ongoing transformation, being made new by the love of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the support of the community. The community at Arise is committed to journey together on this lifelong process and we welcome you to take part with us.
Change, made new, renewing of mind
What We Believe
GOD
We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing, who revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man. Jesus – Israel’s promised Messiah – was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest, King and Advocate.
Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son. He convicts the world, regenerates sinners, and in Him we are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs to the kingdom of God. He indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
Scripture
We believe the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired word of God. It is timeless, relevant, authoritative, completely trustworthy, and it reveals the truth that shapes the faith and guides the paths of followers of Jesus Christ.
Humankind
We believe humankind is created in God’s image, but we are alienated from God due to our broken nature as the result of sin. However, God, through the work of Jesus Christ, has begun the mission of redeeming humanity and all of creation. Our broken nature can be restored when we place our faith in Jesus and commit ourselves to a lifelong journey with Him.
The Church
We believe the church is a community of people on a faith journey together. God unites the church through the Holy Spirit and He empowers her with gifts to participate in the ongoing redemption of humankind and the world.
The Work of Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
Christian Living
We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
Christ’s Return
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
Response and Eternal Destiny
We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.
